Our Blog

January 14, 2015

CARPLS Legal Aid Hotline

Help low-income families solve their everyday legal problems! CARPLS is an innovative legal aid service that offers an immediate response to the everyday legal problems confronting low-income families in Cook County. Volunteers are needed to cover hotline shifts during the day (M-F) or in the evening (M or W) and are asked to commit to 36 service hours annually. The next hotline training cycle begins Wednesday, January 28. No experience is required and attendees will receive MCLE credit. RSVP or get more details…

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January 12, 2015

Try Your Hand on January 30

Join the Young Lawyers Section at its 9th Annual Texas Hold’em Tournament for the benefit of the CBF.

Friday, January 30
The Standard Club

5:00 €“ Check-in
5:15 €“ Refresher Course
6:00 €“ Play Begins

Individual tickets are $150 through January 23 ($175 after) and include tournament entry, buffet and drinks.

 

Register online at www.chicagobar.org/ylspoker or by calling 312-554-2031.

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January 5, 2015

Federal Legal Aid Funding Gets a Bump

Thanks to the leadership and strong support from Illinois legislators led by Sens. Dick Durbin and Mark Kirk and Rep. Mike Quigley, the final 2015 appropriation for the federal government that was signed into law last month includes a modest increase in funding for the Legal Services Corporation (LSC), the entity through which federal funding for legal aid flows, and also meets the requested funding needs for the federal Judiciary.

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November 25, 2014

Helping Dedicated Advocates Serve Others

CBF Report November 2014

Helping Dedicated Advocates Serve Others

Ensuring equal access to justice in our community starts with dedicated advocates pursuing and remaining in careers in legal aid and public service. One of the CBF’s key priorities is to address the growing financial hurdles facing legal aid lawyers in our community, who are increasingly finding that a career in legal aid and public interest law is simply untenable from an economic standpoint. Lawyers graduating today typically have mortgage-sized law school debt while working for relatively modest salaries at pro bono and legal aid organizations. Thanks to a number of generous donors, the CBF has created several considerable fellowship and scholarship programs to help make it possible for committed attorneys to carry out this important work amidst what can be significant financial challenges and, in doing so, help ensure that the most vulnerable people in our community have access to the protections of our justice system.

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November 21, 2014

The President’s Administrative Action on Immigration and the Way Forward

When it comes to immigration, the one thing that all sides agree upon is that our current system is broken.  It is a system that is out of step with our nation’s economic and security needs and core values, and a system that has led to 11 million people living, working, and contributing to our country with no realistic path to legal status.  Despite consistently strong public backing for comprehensive reform of this system and a reform bill that passed the Senate with broad bipartisan support, Congress has yet to pass a bill, and the House shows no credible signs of doing so.

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November 21, 2014

your campaign in action iconCVLS Celebrates 50 Years of Pro Bono

Pro bono legal work was almost unheard of 50 years ago, and to the extent it was, it was often frowned upon. With that backdrop, attorney John Ferren and a group of young lawyers founded Chicago Volunteer Legal Services (CVLS) on June 2, 1964.

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November 21, 2014

Your Updated Resource for Pro Bono Opportunities

The CBF recently updated our popular Pro Bono Opportunities Guide, which is a comprehensive resource designed to help attorneys find and connect with pro bono opportunities particularly suited to their interests, skills and schedules.

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November 4, 2014

Fulfilling Your Responsibility as a Trustee of the Justice System

CBF Report October 2014

Fulfilling Your Responsibility as a Trustee of the Justice System
Time, Money, and Influence

While we all get called on to support a lot of causes, the justice system is our home turf as lawyers and legal professionals. Wherever you are in the legal community, you are a trustee of the justice system, and it is our common cause to make sure the system is fair and accessible for all people regardless of their income or circumstances.

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November 3, 2014

Pro Bono Week 2014 Recap

The Chicago Bar Association and the CBF co-sponsored the 10th Anniversary Celebration of Pro Bono Week from October 20-24, 2014, with the theme of Lifting Lives, Strengthening Access. Margaret C. Benson, the Executive Director of Chicago Volunteer Legal Services, and the Honorable Michael B. Hyman, a Justice on the First District Appellate Court, led the 10th Anniversary Celebration. E. Lynn Grayson, a Partner at Jenner & Block LLP, and Matthew A. Passen, a Partner at Passen Law Group, co-chaired the Week.

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October 15, 2014

your campaign in action iconLawndale Christian Legal Center

Based in North Lawndale, LCLC serves the neighborhood’s youth, ages 24 and younger, involved with the criminal justice system. The organization’s mission is to provide holistic integrated legal and social services.

We don’t just deal with a youth’s legal case in isolation, but walk alongside them through whatever they’re dealing with socially as well to become good citizens and leaders, said Danae Kovac, LCLC director of operations and development.

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